In Water
by ModestDragon
Summary: Hiccup suffers yet another near death experience, and Toothless snaps. A long one-shot. Rated T for mild language and violence
1. Chapter 1: In Water

A/N: I'm _finally_ back, and with something new! It has been very refreshing working on this. This was going to be a huge, lengthy one-shot, but I decided to cut it in half so I could post this and revise the rest. Anyway, I hope you guys like it!

P.S.  
I jump around in time a bit at one of the line breaks toward the end. Just a heads up so you don't get confused.

* * *

"In Water"

On this particular day, when paws broiled on rocks and houses turned into walk-in ovens, I didn't believe it was the remarkable heat of the early evening being onslaughted from a more extraordinarily hot sun that made me the equivalent of a writhing-red piece of coal. In other words, I was on fire, but the sun wasn't to blame for that. Sure, it was hot, but I knew it was a deeper resonance that made me consider jumping into a lake and seeing if it would curl up as steam.

However, don't be misconstrued. The evening was truthfully so blazingly warm that all the lakes around were probably already long dried up, giving reasoning to why all the humans were dropping like flies; and I swore I could hear the sizzling of the scales on my back behind me simmering like a boiling pot. That bizarre fact concerned me for a second and I thought for a second that I should quickly step in the shade to save myself. That follow-up thought stirred actual, startling concern in me, because, for the briefest of moments, I _truly_ believed if I didn't get out of the sun, I would begin to melt.

_I wholeheartedly believed for a moment that my _real body_ would _melt_ under the sun _if _I didn't escape it, like I was a black ice cube. I was CONVINCED for a moment that was a REAL, POSSIBLE THING and it was happening. _I had to roll back and slap myself mentally, worried I was having a heat stroke. Is having insane thoughts a side-effect of heat stroke?

Maybe it was because of how rare hot days were on Berk, and it was messing with my head. Or how unstable my feelings and temperament were. I didn't really know why I would invest myself in something so ridiculous. Gods, I should probably get some water.

Recovering from my tangent, at any rate, I shattered the idea that the visible heat waves in the air were doing more than minutely contributing to the reality that I felt like the sun had brunt me to the crisp black color I was. It was thanks to a whole different reason. To be frank, I couldn't even feel the heat of the sun as it set under the ocean, not anymore (another symptom of heat stroke?).

It was an inferno inside that made me hiss at the touch and happy to burn anyone who wasn't careful. The figurative fire of my temper was lit in a long passed heat of the moment, and I was hungry for more fuel of any kind to keep it alive, to relieve the fidgety tension that racked my body: A person with enough backbone to try a "_What the hell were you thinking!?" _or _"You had to do that in front of everyone?!" _so I could have reason to yell, even if it wasn't likely.

A stroke of bitter luck would supply an argument, but I would have rather settled my fury by taking it out properly on the one who deserved it. Like that insolent, thick-headed dragon who I wished deeply to turn tail after he fled and to face me.

He had been the slimy bag of scales who provided me a match to ignite to. The Deadly Nadder attacked one of our students in the ring during a lesson without reason. It woke up a side of me that rarely saw the light of day anymore, and now it was writhing and demanding to be attended. I wanted to unleash this wrathful fire upon him. A fire that transcended the heat of the day itself, if he could imagine that.

Nevertheless, I was grateful he wasn't coming back. If he did, I wasn't confident I could restrain myself, and neither I or the academy needed a fight to deal with. Having a much messier conclusion than a simple heated argument, it could be fatal in a school where our intention was to teach, collaborate, and bring species together. This alliance had been established only a year ago, and it still needed to plant its roots- we needed this to work. It was fragile, and only a small nudge to it would tip it into a downward spiral of sorts. Still, it _really_ would have felt great if I could char him.

As I sat to the side of the gate and trembled on the edge of the island, once watching the Nadder fly off, now simply extracting myself from everyone, looking over the raving waves smashing into the rocks far below. I was too distracted to notice daybreak dropping beautiful glittering gemstones across the endless water's surfaces. I was groping through my skull, pulling together the confrontation that only vaguely imprinted my brain, wanting to make sense of it and figure exactly _how_ I handled it in my frenzy. My memory was never up front in those situations, so it was difficult.

This particularly prideful Nadder was ridiculously infuriating with his presence at the class session. It seemed his only purpose of showing up was to be an ass and do his absolute best to screw things up and bother whoever he targeted. The day's class was a group of very young children, all frail and panicky, still partially intimidated by all the big dragons who were trying to walk them through the instructions. The Nadder relished in staring them down and scaring them, but eventually, he lost his fun as they all avoided him on the other side of the ring where he couldn't get to without going through us. After an hour of frustration and growing hate on my part of him not leaving and how I couldn't make him leave without force, he deliberately sat next to a pile of diverse flying gear and waited for an unguarded victim. A boy inevitably went over, without any regard to the dragon in his excitement to fly for the very first time with Snotlout and Hookfang. He shot a fireball right before the kid's toes, terrifying him. I turned on my heels at the explosion and finally snapped -a jarring, bone shaking snap- and I threw the loser out.

Regardless of my difficulty to stitch everything together, my rage alongside the raw flesh and blood on my claw was a good indication that I taught that slime-crusted needlehead a special lesson of my own. The message being- don't screw with my students, or my rider, unless you wanted to screw with me. He knew well enough now that he didn't want that.

An audacious coward, I thought. Trying to harm a very young human child and threatening Hiccup when he stepped in the middle of it, saying he would "bury countless needles in his throat".

I couldn't help but wonder why I didn't kill him.

I stopped trembling and let out a frustrated groan, scolding myself.

It was that kind of thinking that made last night so terrible. I didn't kill him because it wasn't necessary and it would have made matters worse than they were. I didn't kill him because I was thinking logically. If I could have retained some of that logic and reason last night, I wouldn't be in the excruciating situation I was in, but it was too late for that.

_Don't think like the impulsive idiot you know screws things up. You did the right thing _this time. _You can applaud yourself for this one, but not too much._

It might have felt good that I avoided this stack of problems, but I was already struggling to carry the rest.

Dammit, what was I going to do...

Like a sudden storm dropping overhead from the acknowledgement of last night's events, it rained down with some mild and used-up frustration to wash out and replace the anger, however, it was mostly the regret and shame of the royally sucky night that took its place.

I wanted to fix what I had done wrong, but I knew wasn't in the best frame of mind to make anything better. I needed to settle down and lose the energy before making amends with the one I illegitimately tagged fault on. I was at fault. It was my fault, dammit.

Until then, I needed some water. I didn't feel good, and my skull was swimming through a spectrum of moods dangerously quick. Intuition told me I should avoid shriveling up prior to confronting my problems head on.

I didn't notice at the time, but the fire apparently caught on something. I watched as the teenagers carried buckets up and down the steps from the dock urgently, in such a hurry they didn't notice all the water was splashing out of the buckets on the way there. Everyone was yelling to each other and cooperating, and I heard stomps inside the walls; probably the dragons trying to help how they could.

I found I was right when I looked inside the gate. The pile of flying gear from which the boy was trying to grab from was on fire, the leather shriveling and stinking. Fishlegs and a little girl I couldn't recall the name of were pouring water on it while Meatlug attempted to stomp it out. They had enough help regardless of me and they were taking care of it, so I stayed out of the way.

What a waste of equipment. It would be a while to replace all of it.

A boy with a very eventful evening ran around me with a bucket a quarter-the-way full, determined to help.

|| Danny! || I called.

He turned on his heel immediately, splashing the rest of the saltwater in his face. "Huh? Oh, hi Mr. Night Fury! Thanks for saving me!"

The boy was timid, but energetic with the ones he's warmed up to. I imagined Hiccup was just like him at that age.|| I told you Dan, you don't need to call me that. My name is Toothless, || I reminded him again, even though he perfectly well knew my name. I quickly glanced around. || Are you okay? He didn't get you, did he? ||

"No! I'm fine!" he assured me enthusiastically. "It was really close, but you threw that jerk out, so it's okay. Man, that was _so _awesome! You totally showed him, the way you roared really loud and then you-."

|| Alright, alright. I know, lad, I was there. || I stopped him. || Listen. You need to be careful of that dragon. If you see him again, tell someone immediately, preferably one of us. Don't go near him. Do you understand? ||

"Yes," he said, looking a bit pale, "But, do you think he's going to hurt me?" he asked.

|| He's not going to touch you, || I said with undeniable certainty. || Just be safe, okay? ||

"Um, okay Mr. Ni-"

|| Toothless. ||

"Toothless." he corrected with a nod and a smile before running off to the dying fire equipped with a empty bucket. "Bye!"

I turned and started for the well once more. Nobody tried approaching me. I was glad for it. My initial desire to yell at someone had lifted, but I couldn't handle any more talking. I wanted to be left alone.

I shoved my head in the cold water of the well, soothing my rising headache. After a few huge gulps, I began to lift my head back up, then quickly submerged it again.

I waited until Hiccup was in the ring before I walked back to the cliff. I passed the opening to the inside once more, eyeing the teen's back sadly as I continued past. Seeing Hiccup once again seemed to do me in. My legs felt heavy. I dragged myself to the grass and laid down, letting a paw drape over the edge. I was too exhausted to stand anymore.

Of course, someone attacking our students would make me mad, and it did. But nothing could set me off like it did when someone threatened Hiccup. Layers of myself would instantaneously be slashed and torn away to reveal a very protective beast within, a part Hiccup at times was concerned with. I grew so furious at some points I couldn't even fathom the anger looking back. And if someone hurt him...

I wasn't offended by his friends and their hollow threats; it was in their nature, and it was healthy to joke around with each other. I understood when Hiccup broke windows with his unstable inventions and was yelled at for it, he needed that too. However, I would never stand there composedly while some stranger promised Hiccup specific hurt. Naturally, I would rip their tongue out and jam it down their throat to save them the trouble of knowing when to hold it.

That was a justified response on my part, but I needed to be capable of smothering that natural reaction. It was that inability and its control over me that drove everything into the ditch and into its explosive conclusion during last night's fight. It was the impulsive side of me I couldn't help, and how much I cared about Hiccup that amplified it. Though, for him, it would be hard to believe that at this point. After all the things I said, it was only because of _how much I cared about him_. What was the human term for that? Oh, right. _Bullshit._

Later, I would submit my neck to the line and hope. Whether I had to bow to him and beg for forgiveness, I didn't care. He was my boy, and I was a lousy friend. I was the biggest, crappiest, rudest, meanest jerk in the existence of the world. It was my mistake, and I earned whatever potential tragedy that came from it.

I rested my head on the ground, watching the sunset. The sun snaked through the clouds gorgeously in a blast of pinks, purples, and oranges. A beautiful goodbye and a beckon to the night on the other side.

_Gods, don't let this be the end._

**##**

"Toothless?"

I jerked slightly at the sudden sound, opening my eyes. Disoriented and confused, I looked around and found the water still far below and the sun long absent from the horizon, the moon spreading its ghostly lights across the deep dark ocean. Realizing I had fallen asleep, I pushed myself up.

"Hey," I heard again.

I turned, finding Astrid looking at me with a raised brow and a twitch of a smile. "Are you alright?' she asked.

|| Yes, I'm fine, || I finally answered, blinking harshly. || I fell asleep. || I told her, hiding my embarrassment.

"Here?" she asked incredulously, then sat down next to me with a simple "Alright then." Her hair gently whipped in the breeze, and she pulled out a hair tie to pull it up in a bun. "So, what's up?" she said through the metal pin in her teeth, pulling it out and stabbing it into the blonde hump on her head. "You seemed pretty upset today."

Typically, Astrid wasn't one to beat around the bush. She was always straight to the point. One of the things I liked about her. || Aside from what happened, no, I wasn't upset, || I told her, but I would be stupid to think she would believe that. I knew I couldn't hide it very well.

"You sure?" She looked at me.

I nodded. || What are you still doing out here? You should be in the village by now, || I asked her quickly.

"I was closing up the ring. I volunteered to do it myself since everyone was wiped out. Apparently you were pretty haggard too; the sun I guess. I don't mind though, I don't have anything waiting for me at home."

I was fond of the girl. She was always a lot of fun, and she cared a lot about Hiccup. I welcomed her company when the boy wanted to hang out with her. She was kind, strong, and playful, and I encouraged the inevitable relationship between them. They both blushed, but no one could deny how much they liked each other.

The girl dangled her feet over the edge. It was a drop that would do a lot more than sprang a human ankle, and she leaned boldly over the edge and peered at the rocks below. "What about Hiccup? How's he?"

I'm sure I twitched, but I pretended I didn't. || He's fine. || I stated. I didn't want to talk about him.

"Where is he?"

|| I don't know. ||

"That's weird. When he's hiding away, he's usually with you."

There was heavy silence hanging in the air for a few moments. I could finally breathe when she changed subjects. "Well, thanks for getting rid of that Nadder, even if you did scare the shit out of everyone. I was convinced for a second that our next lesson was going to be 'how to clean up after your dragon's fight'."

It could have been. Without my fresh exercise of self-restraint, it would have been. Thank the gods it wasn't. || He was a jerk. || The little boy's human term was satisfying to say, oddly. I found myself using it in my thoughts and saying it out loud often.

"We've tolerated much worse," She supplied.

I huffed. || I didn't have the patience tonight. ||

"I thought you weren't upset."

I evaded. || Let's not forget how hot it was. ||

She squinted for a moment. "Yeah, I guess it would throw anyone out of the loop here." She settled and stared at the dirt for a few seconds. "Hey, I got a question." she said after a few seconds. I grunted, not very excited to hear whatever came next.

"Did something happen?" she suddenly asked.

The question caught me off guard and I looked at her. || Excuse me? || _Thor Almighty, don't do this right now._

My heart clenched and my blood banged in my ears. I didn't get this worked up over nothing unless it involved Hiccup. It was what the boy did to me.

She locked eyes with me as if she had caught me red-handed. A rush of irritation washed through me.

|| Don't stare at me expectantly like I know what you are talking about. || I snorted and cut off the eye contact, annoyed.

"I think something happened between you and Hiccup," she announced.

_HOW do you just- what? _

I caught myself hesitating, quickly overcoming the lump of surprise in my throat. I thought I could hear the effort of it when I asked, || And why would you think that? ||

I think she noticed it too, and rolled her eyes. "Nobody could ignore how you were avoiding one another like total strangers, but everybody was sweating too much to give it much thought. I stayed after because I wanted to talk to you. Did something happen?" she asked again.

|| We didn't get in a fight, || I told her bluntly.

"I didn't suggest that," she said with a raised brow.

I scolded myself. || Nothing happened, Astrid_. _|| I groaned. || Enough. Please. ||

"I don't know how to respond to that," she said after a moment of studying me. "Every time Hiccup is brought up, you grow frantic. That doesn't scream 'everything is dandy' to me."

|| It should be a sign that I don't want to talk about it then. ||

"What's the big deal?" she asked, exasperated. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

|| I don't know! || I snapped. She looked shocked and confused, and then concerned.

I sighed, lowering my voice.|| Did he say anything to you? ||

"What? No. I couldn't get a word out of him."

|| Then I can't say anything. It wouldn't be fair if I told you. || If he didn't want her to know, I will respect that.

"Why? Is it his fault?"

_Humans loved the gossip, didn't they?_

|| No. ||

"...Yours?"

|| Yes. ||

"Hm," she thought and stood up, trading the cliff for a much safer wall-lean. She looked proud that she was able to notice something was up. "Well, when did you guys last talk?"

Even if she was being nosy, it was kind of relieving to get it out. || Last night. ||

"Whoa. It must have been worth something then," she laughed dryly.

I slept overnight in the cove and didn't return to the village until our class was half-way through. It took me an hour to build the courage and strength to fly out of the shaded sanctuary and show up to simply see him there.

"You know, if it was your fault, you are the one who needs to fix it," she told me.

|| I know, || I responded, a little annoyed by her tone.

"And you should know that that kid will avoid you at all costs if he knows you are mad at him. Maybe you've never been caught up in that, but I certainly have."

|| Astrid. I _know _that. || I stared at her.

The girl sighed, "Yeah, sorry. Of course you do. I know it's not my business what happened, and I'm sorry for trying to claw it out of you. But I want you to know that I watched him go down to the dock about an hour ago and I haven't seen him come back yet. He's probably still down there, and more or less, I'd count on him hoping you'll come down. Everyone's gone. This is your perfect opportunity."

I shifted anxiously. || Okay. ||

She didn't move or suggest she had anything else to say. She simply stood there, staring at me, waiting and expectant.

I looked back at her, and then I jerked my head back with a brief growl of frustration. || There's no reason for me to wait any longer, but you can't blame me for hesitating. Don't wait up for me. ||

"Yeah. Everyone's been in your position, Fury- I walk myself into it all the time, and I totally understand. However, you are right. You have no reason to wait, so why should you?" She shrugged. "I can't help you with how you can do it, but you know how to talk to that kid better than anyone else. You two are one of the same. You can figure it out."

I stayed where I was, but looked towards the other side where the docks were. I turned back. || That doesn't exactly help me, but thanks. ||

She laughed warmly. "Huh. I never thought I would see you this way." I glared at her again, but instead of everything I thought she would do, she came up to me and clutched both my shoulders with a gentle expression. "It's really heart warming how worried you are, about your rider not forgiving you or whatever for what you did, it's sweet. I wish Stormfly could spare one moment of her preening to at least look at me," she winked.

"But, frankly, it's pretty stupid the way you are thinking." She patted my shoulder harshly and stepped back. "I don't know what happened between you two, but I'm positive it wouldn't pull you guys apart. I don't think anything could. He needs you Toothless." She dug a hard finger into my chest. "You need him too."

|| If you are trying to dig out my heart and show me the truth about how much I care about him or something, it isn't necessary. || I pushed her hand down.

She must have forgotten about it seeing it in the ring and couldn't quite see it in the dark until it was in her face. "Wow. Does your leg have anything to do with it?" she asked, sounding impressed. She tried to touch it, but I pulled away. It wasn't in the condition for curious fingers after the night before.

|| Astrid. || I reminded her.

"Fine, fine. Don't wanna talk about it. I get it." She raised her hands in defeat. She looked back at me again, smiled, and padded my shoulder before walking past. "Goodnight, and good luck! I'll see the original duo tomorrow. _Together._"

I watched the girl as she got to the bridge and then I pondered the ground. I was weirded out by the whole exchange. I was never one who needed a cheerleader, and I never thought Astrid was particularly capable and sensitive enough to take that role. How weird it might have been, it definitely raised my spirits, and I felt a little more confident.

Still, I looked towards the stairs down to the docks, and my heart began to beat faster.

**##**

Hiccup was nowhere to be seen. I considered the possibility that Astrid was wrong and he had slipped away without her noticing, already home or ducking in the back of the forge. The boy could be pretty stealthy sometimes despite his clumsiness. I almost turned back to climb the stairs when I noticed something strange.

Like a footstep in the sand, I almost missed it in the dark. But, Hiccup being Hiccup, always finding ways to do things differently, left behind something more distinctive. I saw, standing upright, lodged between the boards at the end of the dock, what you could call a footprint if you stretched the concept a ways.

There was a prosthetic lacking a Hiccup at the end of the dock, all ready and positioned for a stump to be attached. Next to it was a haphazard tumble of empty crates; more washed up along the beach. They had fallen off.

The crates were spilled across the dock in a way that suggested he tripped into them and fell into the water. Hiccup wasn't here, but he had to be. He couldn't go anywhere without his leg.

It was silent and still.

I stood on the shore, the sand pushing between my toes and sticking unpleasantly to the pads of my feet. I stared at the deep, dark, and ghastly water across the dock. Nothing moved, and neither did I. I didn't make a sound, and I waited.

There was nothing. A front absent of life.

The water looked impossibly black, unimaginably deep. Like liquid death.

The waves remained uninhibited by a single stir. A memory introduced raw fear into my tingling scales.

**##**

I held the lanky teen in my embrace as he struggled angrily and fearfully, while at the same time gripping my neck for what he thought was his dear life. I was sitting on my haunches as I pinned him to my chest and he finally found my knees under the water, now using them to his advantage as he tried to slide up out of my grip and crawl over my shoulder. The boy was wearing no shirt, and his wet skin proved hard to grip. The splashing water shimmered through the fresh forest air as the sun pierced the droplets with its light.

|| Hiccup, stop! || I roared. The water was at his chest, and the rattled boy must have been convinced it would somehow pull him down further and smother him mercilessly.

"No! Let me go! I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do this!" he yelled, coughing and panic trembling through his frame. "Just let me go! _Please, _bud!"

|| Stop, just listen to me, you're fine! You are okay! Don't be scared! ||

"No, I'm done! Swimming is overrated, I don't care. Never again," he said quickly and almost slipped out of my hold and over my shoulder to the dry grass a couple yards away. Before he could, I worked my legs around his stomach and cocooned him in my wings, holding him in a tight embrace. He was stuck and had no chance of getting away. "You promised you'd take this seriously, Toothless!" he wriggled and yelled, furious, "You promised you wouldn't mess with me on this! I trusted you!"

|| Stop accusing and listen to me for a second, Hiccup! ||

"No! You saw me, I almost drowned!"

|| We are out here to _learn_! And you went out by yourself! Why did you go out by yourself? ||

"I don't know! I was excited! But now I am well aware that I have no chance with one leg and I want out. Just bring me back Toothless! I don't want to do this!" he demanded with a pitiful edge to it.

|| We aren't giving up on this thirty seconds in! You just scared yourself. Stop, stop struggling! I am not letting you go! ||

He finally stopped writhing after another moment. "This isn't fair, Toothless!" he moaned, "Please. For the love of Thor, _please _let me go_._" The boy gripped my neck and begged into my scales, gasping on the precious air. I felt bad, but if he got out of the lake, I didn't know if I could get him back in.

|| Stop, just relax. I got you. Nothing is going to happen. || I tried to soothe him.

"This is stupid," he decided. "This is stupid. I only have one leg, I can't swim anymore! There is no way." he continued to hyperventilate.

|| No no no, there absolutely is a way. I don't know what you were thinking, but you can't expect to jump right in and be fine. It will take a lot of practice and time. Just forget about all that for right now though, you don't need to worry about it. We came here so you can experience it again after so long and to have fun. You had a scare, but I'm not going to let it happen again. You'll love this, I swear. ||

"Toothless, I- I sank like a rock! I kicked and everything but it didn't make a difference! This isn't something I can enjoy anymore!"

|| Just calm down and hear the words I'm saying to you, okay? You can do this, and you're going to _like _doing this, but I need you to give it a chance. I'll be right beside you the whole time, and you never need to let go unless you want to. We are doing this for the fun of it, nothing else, and I want you to have fun. Here, look at me, Hiccup. || He wasn't trying to get away anymore, so I took one off one of my paws to gently push his chin up. || I need you to trust me, alright? I'm _not_ going to let you go. ||

He struggled with himself, and then with growl mixed with a sigh, he was fine. "I-uh...phew. Okay, okay. I'm sorry, you're right, it just scared me. A lot. Ugh, I need a minute."

|| That's fine. || I held him up, and he tried to steady his heart.

"Even if we do this, I don't know if I'll be able to swim again." he stated after he'd regained himself.

|| We'll take it in stride, just like you did with walking, and just like we did with flying. We are kind of champs at re-learning fundamental things now. || I smiled.

"I guess you're right. We can do this," he said with new found confidence.

|| It couldn't be that hard. ||

"No, it couldn't."

|| You ready? ||

"Yeah, but let's stick to the shallow end for a little while. Where I can stand."

|| That's the plan. Get on my back and hold on tight. ||

I let him go, and he tucked his hands under the loose straps we put myself in so that he had something easy to hold on to. He drifted behind me, weightless in the still water. His face was beaming with excitement now. "Whoa. Oh man, it has definitely been a long time," he laughed, enchanted and thrilled at the long lost feeling.

|| Do you mind taking the long route there? || I asked.

"No, let's do it," he laughed.

|| Caught your breath? ||

"Yup."

|| Take a deep one, here we go! ||

We plunged under the still, cool, lake water- a territory Hiccup had yet to remaster- and cut through the deep blue faster than Hiccup would ever be capable of. We ended up spending an hour in the lake, swimming, splashing, diving, and relaxing. The big, crooked smile never left Hiccup's face. Even after the excitement, when we were drying off under the hot sun, he was glowing with exhilaration. We went back to the cove countless times after that to continue learning, but Hiccup still hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. He couldn't swim by himself for more than a minute, still helpless in the deep.

**##**

_Helpless._

|| Oh, no. || I breathed the stale air out from my lungs and sprinted down the dock. || Hiccup! _HICCUP!_ ||

* * *

A/N: There it is, part one. Hope you enjoyed it. It is always so much fun writing from Toothless' perspective, and I've wanted to do something like this for a long time. The next chapter will wrap it up, and it will be up soon. Find out what happened between the two.

Thank you for reading, and please leave a review!


	2. Chapter 2: Shallows

A/N: The second chapter omigod every one of you probably forgot about this, but I took so long because I wasn't happy with it so I completely revised and changed it. Anyway, it was originally going to be two parts, but now it's going to be three, and I hope you guys enjoy it. This A/N sucks because I really need to get going to school right now but I want to post it before I go.

* * *

"Shallows"

The day before began at home when I woke up to the rhythmic and familiar sound of a light smack and a hard clank against wood bounding towards me- I couldn't place in my half-awake-half-sleep it until I heard a overjoyed "_Lazybones!_", and I jerked my head up. Hiccup was disproving his role as a rider and was flying towards me for a change. The fishbone landed on my back with a barely audible thud, laughing and bouncing up and down, cheering: "It's a beautiful day, bud, and guess what the flowers smell like? _Adventure_. Get up, eat, be excited, and let's go! Come on buddy! Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon!". I followed him downstairs, groggy and grumpy, but I was just as excited as he was.

We had been looking forward to an escape for a few weeks now, an entire day of our own to get away and take to the sky and distant lands, optimistically hoping to cross some crazy adventure like some hidden treasure trove brimming with pretty jewels we could bring back and trade to graciously rob Johann of everything he had, or perhaps we would find a mysterious object with magical properties in the ruins of fallen underground kingdom under the ocean; a necklace that would blink anything into existence simply with the thought of the beholder. Bright light and curling smoke, and then, _poof_, it was there! _A leg for you, a fin for me, and a consistent supply of fresh fish coming right up! _

...Well, maybe.

However unlikely, anything was possible, we thought, and we loved sharing these pipe-dream predictions with each other. Hiccup was much better at it though. The stories he made up filled me with gleeful energy as I quietly identified with the characters in the books he would read me during late nights with their magical tales we could only imagine. Despite being a little embarrassed of how my stories were almost borderline blatant rip-offs the stuff we read together, Hiccup didn't seem to notice and loved mine as well, and we laughed and scoffed at the ridiculous ideas we bounced around, trying to top each other in the Absolutely Asinine department.

The sun had only just surfaced on the dark water. I told Hiccup we needed to stop laughing or else my wings would lock up, and after he calmed down, he sighed. "These stories are fun and all," he said, "but I'm just glad we are finally out here. And, let's be honest, the fact that we are doing this is in itself a miracle. You can't compare that stuff to this, in my opinion."

I was sure he was referring to finally getting out of the village as a miracle, but it reminded me of something I didn't really think much about anymore. About how bizarre it was that this human was my best friend and my number one, and I planned to live out the rest of my life with him under my wing (there was also the part where we started a revolution and changed life as we knew it and all that jazz). Way back when, I could have never imagined things to turn out this way. But, again, anything was possible, and now I could never imagine my life any other way.

|| You're right. We should be grateful. || I smirked. || Especially you. || After a few moments, I looked back at him. It seemed to sink in and he understood that I was talking about us, possibly because he was thinking the same thing.

He rolled his eyes and faked a single laugh, looking away, unimpressed with me, but he still couldn't help the smirk on his face. "Yeah, yeah, you conceited 'god-send'."

|| Hey. You're alright too. || I allowed.

He shook his head, smiling now. "Wow, thanks. I'm very glad."

I grinned proudly at him, silently deciding it had been too mellow for too long between us. I guess he could see the not-so-sincere intentions I was hiding behind my toothless smile. When he gazed back at me, still falsely unamused, he latched on only a second before I suddenly sealed my wings and we plummeted three-hundred feet. We barely nudged the water when I leveled out.

Hiccup sounded smug, "Huh. Sorry, bud, I know you like the back of this hand." He proceeded to pat my neck. "Don't sweat it, though, the gods have given me duller gifts than you."

The morning lifted off wonderfully. All of our stress and responsibilities were pushed momentarily aside for a refreshing afternoon densely filled with talking, buckling laughter, exhilaration, and relaxing. Most of that took place as Hiccup and I expertly surfed the bluer beyond, threading the clouds with designs and skimming the water's surface until we picked out new islands on the horizons. We touched down on almost all of them and had a look around. Hiccup had a hunger for discovery, I found, and I began to yearn for it as much as he after so many untouched lands had settled under my paws and his foot. Since he had infected me with this insatiable urge, we had found many places, and we knew we were only getting started. There was a whole world out there, sleeping, waiting for us; it would take a lifetime to finish the map we were building, if it were even possible before our days ran dry. But, we weren't discouraged by that.

So, after hours of back-to-back blood rushing excitement and life threatening (but, _Gods_, _so _addictive) sky dives, we were both spent and settled down on a comfortable beach we found during our last solo adventure. I initially rejected coming back to the particular spot, but gave way in the end. Hiccup was ecstatic and weirdly passionate about this beach, and I hated it. It was, as he claimed, "The most gorgeous he had ever seen," and begged to come back so he could try drawing it. I sighed. Even when I whole-heartedily disagreed with his affection towards the sad beach, I couldn't outright refuse. We marked the rest of the islands for later on a piece of paper and flew.

I frowned at the coast. A couple meters off the bank, it was ravaged with slimy boulders and pillar-like rocks protruding from the water, concealing the view across the horizon and making it difficult to swim around if we chose to. There was also an old and small ship wedged in the rocky shore off to the left. It had obviously crashed here many moons ago, crumbling with time and decay and fungus fusing the wood to the smooth stones underneath. The sagging structure and not-view were upsetting to look at. I grumbled and laid down at the edge of the beach, dipping my claws in the warm water. Ultimately, I didn't complain much that there were countless better beaches than this, because I didn't have any real reason to. The beautiful day was consistent wherever we were, and I couldn't ruin by being a baby. Hiccup insisted he wasn't in the mood to swim anyway, and I didn't see the point in swimming otherwise, so I couldn't whine about the useless rocky shore further than the fact that it was ugly. Nevertheless, the odd human thought these things gave it a beautiful character- a place with a story or something like that because of the ship (blah blah blah) and we wouldn't see it often. I pitied the poor, unexposed boy, promising to show him spots that were _actually_ beautiful.

With the sun behind us, closing in on the peak of the mountain nestled in the forest, I watched him with a smirk as he sat in the shallow water and battled with the fish that jumped on the hook. The bank was apparently rich with many different fish of many sizes, colors, and tastes, and I got some good entertainment watching him struggle with the big ones. He fell many times, not finding traction with his prosthetic in the sand, and I had to help him when one almost dragged him into the ocean: a huge, juicy black sea bass, which I ate happily. Bass weren't my favorite, but I found it particularly tasty. And I had to grant him that- the one reason alone I didn't _despise_ the spot. The fish were delicious and plentiful.

After I filled myself up, I crawled up the beach and slid into the sand, immediately getting tugged into a comfortable nap. Hiccup followed after me to begin sketching.

Flowing into the lull of the day, we had predicted a lot of things to happen, but all of them were of the good sort: amazing coincidences that would change our lives for the better. However, where we inevitably ended was nothing like that. In hindsight, the reality of what was to come would have seemed just as impossible as finding a mythical underwater city. The beautiful day came to an unfathomable sour halt I couldn't have prepared for. Washed out, suddenly plummeting into a heart shattering fight, we couldn't step over the remains of it all, unable to cross the broken glass between us of fear of something we didn't want to face. Two hours passed as I lived through a pleasant dream in stark contrast to what I would wake up to. If it were supposed to be a premonition, it was doing a terrible job.

When I woke up from my heavenly sunbathe, I flipped onto my stomach and looked over to the water, not finding Hiccup in his original spot from where he fished. When I scanned the beach, I found him perched on the tip of the ship. He was standing on the part that once, a long time ago, could have been described as the _prow_, as Hiccup told me: "the front". The back half of the ship was gone with the waves, sitting back submerged in the water at an angle, standing up like a boat never should. Hiccup had to hold on to what was left of the railing to keep from slipping. He used his other hand to block the sun as he peered through the jagged water garden, looking for something. It made me anxious to see him so high up and at a radical angle. He wasn't great with slopes. I jogged to the base of the ship.

He saw me approach. "Don't try climbing up! It would definitely collapse."

I didn't plan on it. I peered around to the other side, where it sunk in the water. Some scraps of material from the rotten sail were still attached to the thick beam that remained. I figured he used it to pull himself up. || What are you doing? || I called up.

"Eh, just wanted to check out the ship a little." he shrugged. "But, I can't find my shirt. I thinking maybe it got caught by the current, but I'm not sure I left it that close to the water. Have you seen it?"

|| No. Stop leaning like that, you're going to fall. || I was actually napping on his shirt up the beach. I hadn't noticed.

"Ugh." he groaned. "It's at times like these that I envy your scales. I think I can feel myself turning into a tomato." He wiped the sweat off his forehead and smiled. "And don't worry so much, I'm coming down." He was about to climb over, but he stopped, "Oh! Hey, I was thinking we could look through this wreckage. I already found this." He leaned out of sight and then threw a book over. It plopped in the sand solidly. Water had condensed within its pages and dried it into a rock. The green color of the binding was largely drained. "I can't make out what it says on the cover and all the pages are fused together, but it looks almost ancient." he said as he looked down at me, eager and enchanted. "Wanna bet we'd find a treasure chest if we looked inside?" He was grinning now.

_A child at heart. Always. _|| I don't know what you expect, but alright, maybe, just get down before you hurt yourself. || I ushered him.

"Yar'!" he exclaimed. "Let's find the booty!"

I couldn't help but snort at that one. || You are so strange, boy. ||

"I know, sorry." He swung the remaining fabric of the sail over the side and started climbing down. It was attached at the very rightmost of the beam that crossed the one sticking out of ship. _What were those beams called? Spars? Yards?_

|| Don't apologize, just try not to act so much like your weirdo self around people. It's embarrassing. ||

"I try my best, but you know how it is." he tested the rotten sail with a pull after his feet were planted. It let out a dusty groan. I was apprehensive to let him use it as a rope, but there wasn't really another way.

|| Oh, do I. Is the wood too dilapidated on the other side? ||

"Yeah. I'd probably just sink through." he began to rappel. "And, just to make it clear- you are just as weird as I am. The only difference is that you can hide it."

I shrugged. || Maybe. ||

"You may not want to believe it, but under your cool-as-ice exterior is an excitable hatchling who peeked out when you decided to have some dragon-nip and try dancing during a _very_ big annual Viking celebration."

|| Alright, alright! || I stopped him. I was still embarrassed by that. || Why do you always have to bring that up? ||

"Because I had my bed stolen from me that night and I had to take care of your hangover and vomit all the next day. But it wasn't that bad. You made that night worth all the trouble."

|| Yeah, that's what I heard. || I cringed at the thought of dragon-nip. _Never again._ || Do you need help? ||

"No, I think I got it," he said as he slid down another foot. I heard another deep and low creak falling from the beams high above us, but it was much louder this time. Faint snapping sounds began to poke through the groans.

It was a startling sound. We both knew it wasn't the kind we wanted to be hearing at the moment. Hiccup let out a, "Whoa!" and looked up, but, for some reason, his eyes didn't travel all the way up from where the noise was coming from. He froze, staring through the railing, too high for me to see what he was looking at. I didn't understand.

A huge wave wracked the other side of the boat, crashing around it much farther up the beach than usual. It was like the other half of the ship had just docked to be reunited with its long lost self. The beam creaked again, cracking and complaining. Hiccup was still.

|| Hiccup, stop sitting there and get down. You need to get down _now_, Hiccup, || I ushered him, anxious. He just sat there, rappelling against the ship. I was a little irritated he brought up the Viking party before, and I plotted to give his face a big, sloppy lick in revenge when he got down, but I had already forgotten. || Hiccup! || I snapped when he didn't respond.

"Oh, man." he suddenly whispered, promptly followed by a sudden clap of waves against wood and the snap of the beam above.

The sail was tired of waiting and collapsed. Hiccup, still holding on uselessly to the sail, began to plummet from more than ten feet. I reared up and used the hull of the ship to spring up and catch him in the air. To cue our sloppy roll in the sound was a furious roar on the other side of the ship from a dragon I didn't recognize. I lurched up as quickly as I could; however, the boy was a step ahead. He slid out from under me and screamed _get down_ as he lunged for the cover of the boat. I instinctively stuck close to protect him from whatever it was, making the right decision for my own skin when I barely missed the unfathomably scalding water that slammed against the foundation and spilled over the side above us. It arced over us and landed in the sand a few feet away; we were fairly safe from it under the hull.

I instantaneously dived on Hiccup when I noticed the straying droplets that struck my scales curled into the air as steam, sizzling viciously against whatever surface it joined. It was only a sting to me, but I couldn't let any come near Hiccup, knowing it could be enough to melt the skin right from his flesh. He let out a panicked sound. I hoped it wasn't pain and squeezed him tighter in my wings.

I smelt it now, and I couldn't believe I didn't notice it before: the burnt salt, the slimy fishy stench of a thing long spent under water, fungus and more disgusting particles attracted to its obviously unkempt scummy scales. A scent that reminded me more of eel than anything, but kept a more distinct scent that all dragons shared. He must have wandered over when Hiccup was rappelling and they spotted each other. I mentally slapped myself for not paying attention and grabbing Hiccup when I sensed the unknown dragon. After it all, this was what was happening and it was too late for us to cut and run. I took solace in the reality that I was here, rather than what would have happened if Hiccup had climbed down the other side.

Hiccup yelled from under me, "Scauldron!". Under all the muck and salt the dragon wore, I could tell that it certainly was. Also, it wasn't much of a brain-teaser thanks to the boiling water that was still pouring over us like a geyser.

As soon as the influx ended, I pulled Hiccup up and pushed him towards the treeline. || Go! Hide! ||

"Wait, no! We don't need to-!"

|| _Now! _||

I turned and watch as the water dragon crushed the decaying boat with an anticlimactic splintering snap, more so a soggy slap. The wood was wet and ready to go, surrendering gladly to the weight of the big dragon that jumped on top of it. He was big for a Scauldron, and he was frothing with rage. I hoped Hiccup was running, but, of course, he wasn't. Why would he be, when he has been faced with so many similar dragons of the same angry nature and was able to work his charm to calm them?

|| _Get out of my way, Dark One. That human is mine_. || He hissed, not looking at me, but at the one he demanded right behind me.

What Hiccup didn't recognize- couldn't- was that this Scauldron was a man-eater. To me, it was a very distinct scent, but Hiccup wasn't able to detect it. I failed to remember that later. The Scauldron stared at him with pure despise and disgust and hunger.

|| Slurp some eels, sea-serpent. You will not touch him. || I growled viciously and did my best to keep the human out of sight without tearing my eyes away from the other. He didn't shift an inch or even seemed to hear me through what he had already decided. I doubted a fight could be avoided. Hiccup would be upset if I fought, but I wouldn't let him get hurt.

|| That pathetic _worm_ tried to impale me, and I will tear him to pieces. || He spat the way he said "worm", laced with venom. He still hadn't even glanced at me. He was totally uninterested and kept his eyes trained intensely on my human. I fidgeted in anger.

"No, no! I didn't mean to-" Hiccup came up to my side to plead. The Scauldron made a move that intended to bring hurt.

I struck him with a plasma-bolt in the side of his droopy head, and he went down.

I spun around to Hiccup and tossed him by his pants up the beach. || _**RUN! **_|| I screamed at him. The dragon was already back up, the left side of his face disfigured from the blast.

Hiccup was a pacifist at heart. He would have done everything he could to settle things peacefully, but the dragon's head was seething with anger and vengeance and many inaccurate presumptions that couldn't be moved. I could smell it all on him. He wouldn't have hesitated to eat him, whatever diplomacy he offered. Hiccup hadn't encountered this side of the race much yet. Of course he understood that they were all individuals with their own beliefs, and some saw every human as _scum, _still, he would have done anything. Any approach of his with this dragon would only result in him walking right into his searing water.

The Scauldron was big and sluggish, and old, I realized, after his scales almost peeled off under my swipes. I was mauling him, the exchange very one-sided excluding a few scratches and burns. He tried many times to suck up more water, but I was always there to stomp on his lanky throat and interrupt him. We fought on the shore, water flying and tails lashing. Barely a minute in, and it was obvious that I was winning and the sea dragon had no chance. The old, male Scauldron was staggering and wide-eyed, seemingly surprised at his lack in ability. He must have been an excellent fighter in his olden days, but he was losing it with the passing of time. I wasn't enjoying how enjoying how unfair it was, but he had forced my paw.

He was about to cut loose into the water and escape; reeling back. I, with a drop of blood flowing into my eye, thought I saw a brief opportunity to figure where Hiccup was. I hadn't heard anything, and I couldn't been certain he wasn't hit. I hopped back, turning my back, one eye blind, looking into the trees and the mountain behind it. This was my first mistake.

I quickly looked back and tried to spy a healthy Hiccup in the woods. I couldn't find him. I told myself I would have to wait until the Scauldron was taken care of, and turned back. When I did, the dragon had seemed to glide through his element in the water and appeared right next to me. I couldn't react to the paw that came down full force into my side. I spun right into it and felt the four claws slide through my scales and into my flesh, and then I was flying through the air.

My back crashed into the bottom of one of the pillars in the water first, and then I hit the floor. The rock jerked from its foundation, and began toppling down on me. I tried to regain myself, but I lost my head and didn't have the sense to jump free of its absolute crushing demise. I jumped to my feet, just to find the floor once again.

My foreleg was immediately caught under its fall and I was pinned between the astounding weight and the jagged basin. I screeched in pain and surprise. It felt broken. It was such a blinding flash of agony that I couldn't tell. I tried with all my might to pull my leg out, but it didn't so much as budge.

My small mistake turned the battle in the other dragon's favor. I wasn't able to maneuver myself well enough to aim a blast at him as the dragon approached. I was helpless, struggling and pushing against the rock that wouldn't give, and I would have died if, as he was bracing to blast a downpour of Hel water into my eye sockets, a rock didn't bounce off his charred face.

The dragon's deep gurgling stopped. He snapped his head to the right, bristling, and roared. Looking beyond the rocks I could only see Hiccup's head, and then it was gone. The Scauldron lost sight of me in his roar of hatred and total blood lust. And then I was alone.

It was the fresh unadulterated terror that gave me the strength to finally push off the boulder and chase after the male. _I was a second too long, _I panicked. _A second too late. You will not touch him._

I followed his tracks and broken tree trunks up the incline and found the Scauldron quite quickly. He was sitting crouched and still, his tail lashing and snapping branches behind him. My heart seemed to rise in my throat and shrivel and explode all at the same time, fueling the screech of rage and fear that stripped my vocal cords for days. He jumped and jerked his head back, immediately flying away before I could reach him.

Hiccup was gone, nor did the dragon have him. There was no flesh and blood I could see on his claws as the dragon flew into the sky. I stopped in the place from where he was staring before he lifted off. On the edge, I looked down into the big river that raged at the bottom of the abrupt twenty feet drop. The living, rapid water that cascaded down the mountain side, cold and white.

Many images swept me away in terror. I saw a Hiccup in my head that jumped off to escape the dragon, smacking against the water and going unconscious. A Hiccup pulled under the waves unable to come up for air. A Hiccup hitting a rock hidden right under the surface and splitting his head open like a melon. And then I saw the true Hiccup, farther down the stream struggling to stay afloat, the one who couldn't swim. I didn't think or feel anything as the water was suddenly sweeping me away as well.

I found him farther down the river and dragged him onto shore. I have never been that angry with my human, neither have I been so terrified for him. He had deliberately jumped into the water, to escape certain death, but he had plunged straight into another. If I had found him seconds later, deep under, he would have inhaled the rapids into his frail chest and become unconscious, and at that point, I couldn't have done anything to help him. I would have stood over him moaning and trying pathetically to shake him awake so he could cough it up, because I couldn't force him to do it without crushing his body or over-inflating his lungs with my own. If I had pulled Hiccup up after he drowned, the only thing I could have done was watch as the he turned purple, deprived of air, and the life escaped his eyes. I grew nauseous at the image and pushed it out from my mind, instead absorbing the real, healthy Hiccup on the floor below me.

|| Hey, look at me! || I panicked, || Look at me! Are you okay? ||

He coughed painfully in response.

I couldn't go on without him, I knew that. I couldn't keep going without him next to me; my entire being was shot at the thought, and then my chest would shrink into a coldness, becoming heavy inside me if I pondered on it too long. I couldn't fathom the concept of him suddenly gone, and I blamed myself for it almost tearing my life apart. I vowed to never let harm find him, and I failed. I hadn't protected him like I should. He almost died and it was my fault. I'd lose myself before I lost him.

I was trembling with anger and humiliation and shock and relief. More than anything, I was _scared_, and it fueled my petrified frenzy. He made it so hard for me to keep him safe, and I needed that. Why didn't he understand that? I just wanted him to be okay!

|| You idiot boy! What the _Hel_ were you thinking?! || I roared.

He coughed before he spoke. Fury rattled my skull, and in my overstrung heart, an incomprehensibly alleviating reminder told me my world was still intact. That everything was okay, and he was alive. I was conflicted between wanting to bite his head off and hug him for three hours straight. Either would probably kill him, but I was so relieved to have him in front of me.

_He's breathing. He's breathing. Gods, it was so close._

"He was gonna." Cough. _Inhale_. Cough. _Inhale_. "Kill you." Choke. "Couldn't walk away!"

My narrowly eluded death was sticking to my scales, a sour smell, but it wasn't apparent at the time. A rock was all that saved me, and I should have been amazed I was still standing, however, my mind was overwhelmed with how Hiccup had put himself in danger and I almost lost the only thing that mattered to me. Gratitude didn't even register as an option. He was my best friend, and I couldn't let him do that again.

|| That's exactly what I told you to do! I told you to _RUN_! Everything would have been fine if you would have just listened to me! ||

"What? He was about to kill you!" he struggled to catch his breath and yell back.

My words were virtually empty and meaningless, bereft of foundation; speaking in tongues and an out-pour of emotion and energy. I didn't feel them go out or what came back at me.

|| Don't _ever_ try to step in between my fights. If you think you can hold your own, you must be pretty gods damned stupid. ||

Hiccup was startled from the raw resent that in my voice; and it was aimed at him. "Stupid!? So, what, Toothless, I didn't do anything over there?"

|| You almost got yourself killed. ||

"I saved your life! What is the matter with you?" He shouted as he stood up.

|| _The only reason we were here in the first place, was because _you_ insisted! _||

"That isn't fair, Toothless! I didn't come here so you could start pointless fights!"

|| I TOLD YOU NOT TO CLIMB ON THAT BOAT, AND YOU DID, AND _HE_ SAW YOU. _YOU NEVER LISTEN_. ||

"_Why did you fight him? That wasn't necessary!_"

|| He was a man-eater, Hiccup! _A. Man. Eater!_ ||

"Ah- A what?" he asked, genuinely stumped. I ignored it.

|| What did you think you could do? Talk to him or pet him like you do so well and all would end well for everyone?! Was that your master plan? ||

"No! You didn't-"

|| Shut up, || I cut him off and began to walk back to the beach. || I don't want to hear it. Get your stuff, we are leaving. ||

"I guess we are pretty disappointed in each other then, huh?!" He shouted. He absolutely hated it when people discounted him, ignoring what he had to say. I knew that. Maybe that was why I turned my back on him.

I was standing on the edge the whole time, but after that, it was nonexistent. I was bathing in a raging inferno. I couldn't stop the hollow words that left me.

I spun around dangerously. || Why should _you_ be disappointed in _me_?! ||

"I didn't know you were such a jerk, Toothless!" he yelled at me. He may have had a near death experience, but what I was saying to him seemed to scare him more. He was shaken and cloudy-eyed. Shaken by the freezing water on his skin and the attack from his best friend. Cloudy-eyed with death and hurt.

I was staring right into his face in less than a second, roaring at him like I never had before, || YOU WANT TO HEAR MY DAILY DISAPPOINTMENT? I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE REALITY THAT I BONDED WITH SUCH A RECKLESS, ENCUMBERING IDIOT. THAT'S DISAPPOINTING.||

His eyes widened, and corner of his right eye glinted as the rays of the sunset found him through the leaves. He was taken aback by that. His physique immediately shifted; almost deflated. I slipped slightly out of my trance to realize I had gone too far, but I didn't understand it immediately. My pride refused me cognition or any sort of apology to him.

The pain was so deeply apparent in his face during the last second we held eye contact. He wasn't breathing. I had knocked the breath from him without touching him, but I hit him with a blow that made him ache. And after his head fell and his gaze became lost in itself, he barely whispered, "I'm sure it is, Toothless," and he walked around me back to the beach. I followed a few paces behind him. The tremors didn't totally leave until we started flying back to Berk, a tense silence suffocating us the whole way. My leg began pulsing with a excruciating ache, but I didn't give it mind.

I slowly became worried I was too harsh. If I had just understood any of the things I said, I would have been sitting him down and begging him not to hate me.

My foggy mind was now completely clear as Hiccup routinely stripped me of my saddle, and I was putting together what happened and what I did in my head. This time, Hiccup did it without looking at me. He kept his face hidden, facing the other direction and studying the floor. I couldn't get a glimpse until he came to my chest, and I noticed his eyes were very glazed over, threatening to give way. I already felt sick, then; when we made eye contact, I suddenly wanted to vomit. The things I had already said to him started to echo in my head, and I was hearing them for the first time. It was too much, I lost it. None of it was true, but in that brief moment, I could see he believed it all.

Only a moment later he pulled off my saddle and heaved it over his shoulder, walking home without uttering a word. He didn't look back.

The realization blasted me as I watched his small frame disappear behind a shed, and I couldn't immediately force myself to follow him. My legs became as heavy as stones and my heart stopped cold. I peered from the dark, motionless, empty square of the village, and I was aware of everything.

I had called him a burden.

|| Hiccup, wait! || I tried to stop him.

He wretched away, crying now. "Stop! Get away! And you know what?" he choked, "I'm glad to finally hear the truth from you! I used to think I couldn't have friends- that nobody would ever like me! And I guess I was right! It's just all the hero stuff that people see now, but I'm still the same Hiccup everyone hated. _Hiccup the Useless,_ do you remember that? I told you all about it when we were first friends, or _whatever_ you want to call it!"

|| That isn't true, Hiccup! We _are_ friends. You are my best friend! ||

"Don't come home, Toothless." He cried freely, and walked to his house on the hill.

|| Hiccup, don't, please! || I moaned.

It was cold, dark, and still, and I watched him without words, sinking into the biggest regret I had ever felt.

* * *

A/N: Yup. Angst is fun. I really enjoyed writing this between Hiccup and Toothless because I'm a D-bag and it was a definite first. Stick around to see if/how they make it up to each other!

Hope you liked it! Leave a review! I hope you spam me with feedback when I'm bored in class.


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